Only Human
by Bryony Paige Fox
Summary: A collection of drabbles illustrating random moments in the Kaiba brothers' lives.
1. Goodnight

Only Human

My brother is snoring.

He doesn't usually snore so loudly, but he did have a very long day. He runs a huge company, and people forget that he's only eighteen years old himself. Or even human. I think even _he_ forgets that he's human, what with the way he pushes himself. And that's why every once in awhile, he ends up crashing like _this_.

I look over at him, sighing. His body is spread out on the couch in our living room, one arm hanging off the edge, and half of face is smashed into a throw pillow. I can't tell if it's muffling his snores or actually making him louder, but at least he's finally resting. Roland enters the room, glances at my brother, and a slight, knowing smirk crosses his face. He knows it's Kaiba Crash Day. He holds out a file to me, and I put down my game and accept it from him.

"I'll just give this to you," he says quietly, and I smile. "Is there anything else I can do before I leave for the night?"

I shake my head. "No, thanks, Roland. Have a good night."

"You, too," he says with a soft chuckle as my brother grunts and mumbles something about a bridge being built in his sleep. I turn my attention back on Seto and walk over to sit on the floor in front of the couch he's sleeping on, then run my hand through his hair once.

"Tell me about the bridge," I whisper into his ear, causing him to groan a little and turn his head away. After I start laughing, he wakes up and stares at me blearily, like he's not really sure where he is. He looks around for a minute before wiping his mouth on his sleeve and sitting up.

"What time is it?" Seto mumbles tiredly, rubbing his eyes.

"Almost eight," I say, sitting next to him. "You were only asleep for an hour."

He nods, then falls silent. I watch as his eyes start to close again, and I think he's about to sleep again, but then his whole body does this little jerky thing. Suddenly, he's awake again, and moves his attention to the manila folder in my hand.

"What's that…?"

"Oh," I say, handing it to him. "Roland just dropped this off a few minutes ago, it's the file you wanted for Monday."

Seto stifles a yawn and starts flipping through the papers, but I can tell that he isn't really reading them. I gently pull the folder out of his hand and place it on the coffee table, then grab his hand and stand up.

"You actually have time to sleep tonight. Go to bed, Seto."

My brother stares at my hand holding his for a moment, and I know he's just a second away from telling me he can take care of himself; instead, he stands up, squeezing my hand the whole time.

"I'm fine…we're still going for dinner-"

My brother tries to let my hand go, but I keep a firm clamp on him. He looks down at me questioningly, and I shake me head.

"No, it's okay, we don't have to. I can tell you're really tired. Go get some sleep."

He watches me quietly for another moment, and nods. "All right. But tomorrow-"

"Definitely," I smile at him, and cling to his torso for a moment before pulling away. "Good night, Big Brother."

He goes up to bed, and I play video games for a few hours until I start to feel sleepy as well. On my way up to my room, I stop outside Seto's door. He's snoring again, and I laugh to myself as I disappear into my own room. At least he's having a good night for once.


	2. Tears

Only Human

It was one of those rare evenings where Mokuba arrived home after his brother. In all fairness, Seto had never left the house that day in the first place, and instead locked him in his study to immerse himself in work. The younger brother didn't really question this, despite the fact that it was unusual; he simply assumed that Seto must have one of his migraines again. Knowing that these headaches caused his brother to retreat to absolute silence, Mokuba decided to bring him some tea before heading to his own room for the evening.

After softly knocking on the door to alert the elder brother to his presence, Mokuba slowly opened his brother's bedroom door and peeked in. Surprisingly, Seto wasn't at his desk-he was leaning on his elbows, which were propped up on the frame of the open window, with his face buried in his hands. Mokuba frowned and walked over to place the steaming mug on his desk before looking at his brother.

"Are you all right?"

Seto didn't respond; it was like he never even noticed that Mokuba had entered his bedroom. The child inched closer, until he could see that his brother was trembling a bit. He moved closer until he was leaning back against the wall, gazing up at his brother's hunched form and listening to his slightly choppy, uneven breathing.

"Why are you crying?"

Mokuba's voice was calm, as though he was asking about the time of a meeting or for a new game, even though every cell in his body was writhing in anxiety at this discovery. He could only remember exactly two previous instances in his entire life of seeing his big brother cry: once at the orphanage after their first day, and once a few months after moving in with Gozaburo, when Seto was feeling exceptionally overwhelmed and alone. But one thing Mokuba had learned was that showing his fear and anxiety to his brother (when it was for his brother) only caused him to clam up and insist that everything would be fine. Perhaps attempting to remain more casual would help in his endeavor of weaseling the information out of his brother.

Seto dug the base of his palms into his eyes to abolish the tears and straightened up, turning away from Mokuba. He still said nothing, until he sat down on his bed and inhaled deeply.

"I'm just…unhappy."

"Why?" Mokuba asked, climbing onto his brother's bed to sit beside him. Seto glanced down at his brother through the corner of his eye, sensing the child's decidedly ill-suppressed overwhelming concern. The love he felt emanating from Mokuba was bordering on unbearable in his current state, and he shook his head slowly before looking away. More tears were filling his eyes, and the last thing he wanted to do was explain them.

"It's nothing," he managed to grumble, his voice cracking slightly with emotion.

Mokuba swallowed the lump growing in his own throat before settling back to sit on his heels. He reached out and gently brushed the single new tear making its way down Seto's pale cheek. That one little action was enough to break the flood barriers, and the elder brother was suddenly wracked with sobs, as though years of anger, pain, and loneliness finally decided to escape through the lachrymose liquid dripping from his melancholic sapphire eyes. Mokuba drew in a sharp breath and immediately threw his arms around his big brother, clinging unyieldingly as his brother attempted to free himself from the child's grasp; finally, Seto gave up and buried his face into Mokuba's shoulder, gradually warming up to the idea of being held and returning the embrace.

They remained like that for a long time, until Seto's tears finally ceased to fall, and Mokuba spent a moment drying the shining streaks away. He then sat down beside his brother, and they just existed in absolute silence for another lengthy period of time, until Mokuba spoke up.

"You aren't going to tell me what's wrong, are you?"

"It's not your cross to bear, little brother," Seto said quietly. "You're here, and that's all I need."

Mokuba shifted for a moment, wondering how to extract his brother's worries, but ultimately decided to pick his battles-and this wasn't one that needed an immediate win. He nodded and pressed himself into Seto's arms again, tensing when he heard his brother's breath hitch, but was relieved when he pulled away and found that his brother's face had returned to its default expression. He hopped off the bed and walked over to where the tea had been forgotten and picked up the cup, earning a quizzical glance from Seto.

"I thought you stayed home all day because you had one of your bad headaches," Mokuba explained. "So I brought you tea, except it's all nasty and cold now." He stared into the cup, attempting to stave off the growing guilt in the pit of his stomach. "If I knew for a second that you were feeling so…sad…I would have stayed here with you all day."

"I know you would have. And I wouldn't have let you."

Mokuba flashed a weak smile over at Seto. "I know."

The elder Kaiba stood and made his way back to his desk; his hair was mussed and he simply looked exhausted. Mokuba watched as he opened his laptop again, biting his lip.

"Seto?"

"Hm?"

"…Make sure you get some rest tonight. You've suffered enough. Let yourself win for once."

Seto gazed at his little brother with an unusual amount of blatant affection, something he never openly expressed. He then looked back at his computer, and said, "I will. Thank you, Mokuba."

The child smiled, and ran down to the kitchen to clean up the dishes.


	3. Words

Only Human

Seto pulled the car up to Mokuba's school and waited patiently for the child to organize all of his belongings before he was ready to slide out of the car and run off to class. Finally, all of his things were sufficiently lined up, and he turned to his big brother.

"Thanks for driving me. I didn't mean to oversleep."

"It doesn't matter; it doesn't happen all the time. You're coming straight to the office after school, right?" Seto asked, unlocking the door so the kid could actually exit the vehicle. Mokuba shook his head and reached over to give his brother a quick hug.

"No, I have to tutor someone in math, but I'll be home for dinner. See you then. I love you."

"Mhm," Kaiba murmured back as he returned the hug before gesturing for Mokuba to leave. "You're late enough, I don't want to get a phone call and have to explain why you were so late."

Mokuba grinned and slipped out of the car, throwing once last glance back at his brother before sprinting off to class.

* * *

><p>Later that evening, after the brothers had finished eating and had spent a few hours watching TV together, Seto noticed that Mokuba had started practically dozing off on the other couch. He leaned forward, offhandedly attempting to gain Mokuba's attention.<p>

"Did you finish your homework?"

Mokuba let out a long, wide yawn before sitting up straighter and nodding. "Yup, it's all packed up for tomorrow."

"Good. Time for bed, kid."

The child made a face, but stood up and followed his brother up the stairs. After changing in his own room, he went down to Seto's. Through the slightly cracked door, he could see that his brother was already sitting in bed, leaning back against pillows, and reading a book; he knocked softly before pushing the door open the rest of the way.

"Can I come say good night?"

Seto looked up from his book and nodded, holding out an arm for Mokuba to snuggle into momentarily. The child ran over and clung to him for a second before pulling away.

"See you tomorrow. I love you."

"Me too," Seto mumbled under his breath, picking up his book again before realizing that Mokuba hadn't gone anywhere, and was still staring at him with a frown on his face. "What's wrong?"

"Why do you do that?" Mokuba asked curiously. It was Seto's turn to frown, and he placed the book aside for the second time.

"Do what?"

"Whenever I tell you I love you, you never say it back. You say 'me, too,' or just make some little noise or something," Mokuba explained, but when a very pained look crossed Seto's face, he rushed to clarify his question further. "I mean, it's not like I _need_ you to tell me-I do know you love me-but I was just wondering…"

"I don't know, Mokuba," Seto muttered dismissively. "I don't want to overthink it, like you are."

"Have you ever said it to anyone?"

Seto leaned back against his pillows and closed his eyes, hoping that if Mokuba thought he wanted to sleep, he'd leave him alone. But there was no such luck that night, so he had no choice but to go along with it.

"Yes."

"Who?" Mokuba's curiosity was growing quicker than a swarm of fruit flies on a pile of overripe bananas, and was about as equally as pleasant to his elder brother.

"Our aunt. The night before she dumped us off at the orphanage." Seto drew in a breath quickly and reached out to touch his brother's shoulder. "Like you said, you know that I do-"

"You don't have to explain anything else. I understand," Mokuba insisted quietly, giving his brother another big hug, and even planting a kiss on his forehead. "I was just wondering. Good night. I'll see you in the morning."

"Mokuba…"

The kid looked at him with a bright smile. "No, really, it's okay. I was honestly only curious-it was just something I noticed. I know you do love me, and one day, I believe you'll be able to say so. All good things come in time. And even if you can't, it doesn't matter. Like I said, I already know."

Seto watched his brother scamper off to his own room, and wondered what he'd done to deserve such a loving and understanding sibling.


	4. Fever

Only Human

Kaiba ran a gentle hand across Mokuba's feverish forehead, causing the child to moan and mumble unintelligibly. He sighed and pulled his blankets back over Mokuba's small, trembling body, tucking the comforter around his shoulders and under his chin. The kid had been fighting a horrible cold for the past few days, and he had apparently reached the climax of his illness, which resulted in him running into his big brother's bedroom just after midnight, deliriously screaming and crying about some demons in his room. Or something.

He wasn't exactly easy to understand, but Kaiba found just holding him was enough to get him back to sleep, like he was five instead of thirteen. It wasn't like Mokuba got that sick often at all, though, so the elder brother decided it was best to keep him in his bed that night. Kaiba tried to fall asleep himself, but Mokuba had suddenly turned into a little power heater that made too much noise, so Kaiba knew his night was going to be spent caring for his brother, and not sleeping.

And Kaiba was fine with that. That kid came before his own life. He got up, went to get a small crystal bowl, and filled it with water in the bathroom, where he grabbed a small towel and dropped it into the bowl. Once he was back in bed, he wrung the towel out, gently pushed Mokuba onto his back, and draped the cool, damp fabric over his eyes and forehead. Now that he was situated, Kaiba reached over and pulled out his book, then leaned against his pillows to read until Mokuba awoke.

* * *

><p>Mokuba didn't even start to stir until late the next afternoon, and once he'd awakened, he realized he had a terribly dry mouth and a pounding headache. He felt the wet towel over his face, and reaching up to remove it, he was immediately overwhelmed with a somewhat painful dizzy sensation, causing him to whine softly and garner Kaiba's attention. The elder brother reached down and gently pulled the cloth off of his face and dropped it back in the bowl. Mokuba gazed up at him through squinted eyes, panting slightly with fever.<p>

"Seto…" he mumbled, licking his dry lips. Kaiba gently hoisted Mokuba into a sitting position, pulled the glass of water off the nightstand, and held it to his lips until the child drank a sufficient amount. Mokuba yawned and glanced around a bit, frowning. "When did I get to your room…and what time is it?"

Kaiba brushed the back of his hand over Mokuba's cheeks before answering. He did seem to have cooled off a tiny bit, which was a relief. "You came here late last night. It's just after two right now."

"Two in the afternoon?" Mokuba clarified anxiously. He blinked and stared at his brother. "You're still in your pajamas…and in bed…" The situation finally clicked in Mokuba's head, and he cried, "You should be at work-"

"No, I should be here taking care of you," Kaiba said firmly. "Now, how are you feeling?"

Mokuba blinked a few times, letting this sink in. "My head hurts, I can barely breathe, and my mouth feels like I've been chewing sandpaper all night…it's gross." He moved to stretch a little and settled back against the pillows.

"That's because you were breathing through your mouth all night," Kaiba explained, but Mokuba scowled.

"Well, _you're_ the one who snores-"

"Mokuba, I wasn't picking on you," Kaiba said patiently. "Your nose is all blocked up, so while you were sleeping, you just started breathing through your mouth to make up for it. And that's why your mouth feels so dry. That's all I meant." He handed Mokuba the water glass again. "Drink some more, it'll help."

Mokuba obliged, and returned the glass with a heavy sigh. "I didn't mean to get all offended, I'm really not feeling well."

Kaiba stifled a yawn and moved down to stretch out on his back, then patted the space right beside him. "I know. Just lie down and take a nap." The child curled up beside him, despite the fact he'd only been awake for a short while. He coughed and moved a little closer to steal some more warmth, and to rest his head on his brother's chest. It was insane how quickly something as simple as a cold could sap his energy and leave him so exhausted after sleeping for over twelve hours…but despite how miserable he felt physically, he was at perfect emotional peace.

* * *

><p>So here's one with Kaiba taking care of Mokuba. I'm running low on ideas, but if you have anything you'd like me to try, let me know.<p> 


End file.
